September Grooming Guide: Serving Good Face

September often has an elegiac connotation - the end of vacation, the loss of freedom and innocence - and yet after this summer’s cavalcade of hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, cyclones, and beastly heat, more than a few of us are anticipating a season where we’re not at war with weather.

Furthermore, as everyone who saw "The September Issue" knows, September is the month that matters. September is all about Fashion Week, Broadway openings, film premieres, new restaurants - which means that you’ll be out there serving good face.

Zensation: Ultra Silky Rose Exfoliating Cream

This past summer, we climbed the highest point above Zurich, Switzerland, a lushly green fertile mountain called Pfannenstiel. The Alpine air was so clear and fresh, so blissfully inebriating, that we nearly lost our balance and fell off the mountaintop. Once our heads cleared, we breathed in deeply - and suddenly we realized why it is that the Swiss have such creamy, clean skin.

Of course, fresh air isn’t the only thing our skin needs - and especially at the end of a long, hot summer. As lovely as summer is, you have to admit, the heat and the sun and the SPF (as well as the stress of housemates and hurricanes at your summer share) can take a toll on your pores.

Zensation is an anti-stress skincare line from Switzerland that uses Swiss Alpine plant and fruit extracts to help slow down the signs of aging. Completely manufactured in Switzerland under pharmaceutical conditions, Zensation is infused with essential oils - and without any harmful preservatives, colorants, alcohol, mineral oil, or parabens.

During the weekend, when you’re not rushing to the office, you can use this lavender-infused emollient as a regenerating cream by leaving a thick layer on your clean face for 7-10 minutes (just don’t answer the door during that time).

Zensation’s skincare products rehydrate your skin, while gradually minimizing wrinkles (not that you have any of those, not if you’re using Swiss products, anyway). The result is skin so radiant and refreshed that people might ask if you’ve gone to Switzerland for "the treatment." Tell them to call you Heidi.

TAY Clean and Pure: Cucumber Day Moisturizer with Mango Butter

Who doesn’t love a good cucumber? Such a versatile vegetable. You can skin it; you can eat it - you can use it all over your face.

And think of all the hangovers you endured by the pool this summer with cucumber eyes. But sometimes cucumbers aren’t readily available; sometimes the produce stands are stripped bare of cucumbers. (Trust me - it happened in the run-up to Irene in Manhattan. No cukes for sale; everyone stayed home that Saturday night to put on a pretty face.) What you need in situations like that is TAY Clean and Pure: Cucumber Day Moisturizer with Mango Butter.

Rich in vitamins A, D, and E, TAY Clean and Pure: Cucumber Day Moisturizer contains mushroom extracts to protect your pores against environmental stress, as well as mango butter for long-term hydration - and, of course, cucumber fruit extract, which is both calming and restorative.

As a beauty industry veteran, TAY’s founder, Sarah Tay, knew what she wanted (as well as what she didn’t) when she started her own skincare line. Utilizing fair-trade sources, TAY’s blends are cruelty-free and vegan-certified - and manufactured in wind-powered facilities.

But what you’ll probably first fall in love with are TAY’s unique wooden bottles. Made from 100% renewable bamboo (and PET plastic), the sustainable bottles can be recycled - but it’s likely that you’ll wish to refill them with TAY’s refill pouch option. As you might know, bamboo thrives without fertilizer and uses very little water to grow as much as four feet in a day - and TAY works with the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation to plant orchards to help alleviate world hunger, while improving the environment.

Alchimie Forever: Royal Cream Moisturizer

One of the joys of life is when you find a skincare line that seems to do everything right. Every product does what it promises and all of them agree with your skin. And just as with a newfound restaurant, you’re torn between keeping it to yourself (so that you’re the one in your posse with the most beautiful skin) - or telling every single person you’ve ever friended on Facebook.

Recently, we had the pleasure of meeting the CEO and co-founder of Alchimie Forever, the Swiss family-run company born from the Forever Laser Institut medical spa in Geneva, Switzerland - and we’re happy to report that this woman had the kind of skin you see on the cover of a magazine. Of course, this might be expected, given the Swiss family genes - and a 17-product skincare line packed with natural antioxidants. All four daughters of a biochemist and a dermatologist are in the family business, which became global in 2004. What was once a Swiss secret is now available to all skincare cognoscenti.

Our latest Alchimie Forever addiction is a lightweight moisturizer that’s perfect for when the air dries out a little and crackles with autumn. Alchimie Forever Royal Cream Moisturizer is a hydrating emollient fortified with basil, an herb that was highly regarded by the men of ancient Greece for its natural healing properties. In fact, the Greeks called basil the "herb of kings." News to us, but hey, as is so often the case, what worked for the Greeks works for us.

This nourishing moisturizer also goes by the catchy, subtitle "Lights On/Lights Off," which might be a subliminal reference to your bedroom habits - as well as how your skin will light up with this rejuvenating cream. Infused with grape seeds, jojoba, and vitamin E, Alchimie Forever Royal Cream Moisturizer regulates the production of sebum, while also repairing free radical damage.

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